TALLAHASSEE — State Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who helps oversee the insurance industry, wrote a letter Wednesday to former President Donald Trump that said the Republican presidential nominee is the “only person who can fix our country when it comes to our current insurance crisis.”
The letter, on office stationery, suggested to Trump a series of proposals that included cutting interest rates, pressuring European reinsurers to abandon “environmental, social and governance” mandates, and dismantling the Federal Insurance Office within the U.S. Treasury, as the “regulation of insurance matters should be left up to the states.”
The Florida Democratic Party criticized Patronis for “political games” and “passing the blame for the property insurance crisis in Florida.”
“Republicans have had years to propose solutions to this problem and pass policies to deliver relief to Floridians — and repeatedly failed,” Democratic Chairwoman Nikki Fried said in a statement.
Florida has faced massive property-insurance problems in recent years, with private insurers dropping policies, raising rates — and, in some cases, going insolvent. Lawmakers have made a series of changes to try to revitalize the market, including curbing lawsuits against insurers and seeking to push policies from the state’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. into the private market.
While the industry has reported signs of stabilization in the past year, the average cost of residential insurance in Florida is $5,533 a year for $300,000 in policy coverage, according to Bankrate. Similar coverage nationally is $2,230 a year.
SCHOOL RULES
Gov. Ron DeSantis says he expects the next University of Florida president to maintain high standards and keep things orderly on campus.
During an appearance Wednesday, DeSantis praised the university’s trustees, who will search for a new president, and said the next UF leader will be “dedicated to the pursuit of truth in higher education.”
DeSantis, who has degrees from Yale and Harvard, also took a shot at another Ivy League school, Columbia University, which has been roiled by protests amid the Israel-Hamas war.
“We’re dedicated to academic rigor and high standards, and we’re dedicated to these (Florida) institutions playing an important role in preparing our students to be citizens of this republic,” DeSantis said. “We do not want our institutions of higher education to turn into propaganda machines like Columbia University.”
DeSantis added that “we’re going to have a place where there’s order in the court, and you’re not having the inmates run the asylum.”
University of Florida trustees on Tuesday named former President Kent Fuchs as interim leader after President Ben Sasse announced he was stepping down because of his ailing wife.
Appearing last week at a Republican Party of Florida breakfast during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, DeSantis promoted making Florida’s universities and colleges more conservative as the GOP continues to expand its edge in registered voters.
“Really the only places that we haven’t really outpaced (Democrats) are the places that have universities in them. Orange (County), UCF (University of Central Florida), Gainesville, Tallahassee,” DeSantis said. “But I will tell you no one is doing more on reforming universities than we are.”
NOT A FAN
Prominent attorney John Morgan, who has helped bankroll Democratic candidates in the past, isn’t sold on Vice President Kamala Harris, who appears poised to become the Democratic presidential nominee.
“One thing is certain in all this. … We need a third party,” Morgan wrote in a social-media post Sunday. “Too many of us are stuck with nowhere to go except home. And there are more of us than them.”
He later told ABC News, “If Trump world could pick anybody to run against, I think they’d pick her.”
Appearing on Fox Business, Morgan decried efforts to lock up Harris as the nominee rather than letting delegates decide during the Democratic National Convention next month in Chicago. Morgan added Harris might be the best speaker on abortion rights but questioned if she was the best messenger for the party.
Morgan added Harris wouldn’t be a top pick in a fantasy draft of Democratic politicians eligible to run.
“There are people like (Gov.) Andy Beshear from Kentucky, (Gov. Josh) Shapiro from Pennsylvania, (U.S. Sen. Mark) Kelly from Arizona, (Michigan Gov. Gretchen) Whitmer and even, you know, (former First Lady) Michelle Obama, if somebody wanted to see if she’s up for it,” Morgan said. “So, that’s my feeling. But I don’t think there’s anything more that can be done.”
STANLEY CUP COCKTAILS
Two bottles of Foothills whisky are waiting to be cracked at the governor’s mansion, thanks to the Florida Panthers’ win over the Edmonton Oilers in the National Hockey League championship.
Making good on a Stanley Cup wager, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith sent to DeSantis a bottle of Highwood Distillery’s Sweet Sippin’ Original Maple Whisky and a bottle of Eau Claire Distillery’s Canadian Rye Whisky.
“This looks really, really, good,” DeSantis said in a video posted online Monday.
DeSantis wagered Florida rum and Key lime pie.
SOCIAL MEDIA POST OF THE WEEK: “Today, the State Board of Education voted to approve updated school grading scale used to determine school grades. School grades for the 2023-24 school year demonstrate that Florida schools continue to show improvement over last year.” — Florida Department of Education (@EducationFL).
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